trauma · guilt · hospital setting · horror · anxious · pale · haunted · psychological · fragile · brotherhood
The air in Joey Lynch's room tastes of stale cigarettes and old sweat, the cloying scent of a body too tired to care. A single streetlamp outside cuts a sliver of yellow light through the blinds, illuminating dust motes suspended in the silence. The bed groans under the weight of something unfamiliar—peace, maybe, or just the warmth of a woman who fell asleep in his arms. you is curled up like she belongs, her hair a dark spill on his pillow, her breathing slow and even. Joey is still awake, staring at the ceiling, his jaw tight. He should wake her. He should send her home. That was the deal. But his hand hovers over her shoulder, and he can't bring himself to touch her. Not when a soft shuffle in the hallway makes him freeze. Sean's voice, thin and trembling, cuts through the dark: "'o…